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TV Review: THE FLASH: Season 2, Episode 22: Invincible [The CW]

Katie Cassidy Invincible The Flash

The CW’s The Flash Invincible TV Show Review. The Flash: Season 2, Episode 22: Invincible was a bit of a let down from last week’s huge episode. The episode started out in big fashion as the entire CCPD went up against an army of metahumans from Earth-2 as they lay waste to the city. However, all that excitement was short-lived once Central City started going back to normal. That sudden shift in scenery was what part of the problem was with this week’s penultimate episode. Despite a few key moments, the episode wasn’t big enough as this was suppose to be the episode that sets the stage for the big season finale next week.

With a title like ‘Invincible’, you would expect a conventional episode of The Flash as we reach closer to the finale. We did get to meet Laurel Lance’s (Katie Cassidy) Earth-2 doppelganger Black Siren who wreaked havoc by bringing down some the city’s infrastructure with her screams. Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) went through the usual rounds trying and failing to solve the problem and Team Flash managing to find a solution together to stop their new enemy. There were also some other plots being added into the mix, but seeing how the episode began it was unexpected and disappointing how it all played out.

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However, having Katie Cassidy play a villain gave her an entirely different role to play as she got to play Laurel Lance one more time. It may have been different from her original character on Arrow, but it was still the Laurel we were familiar with. It was great seeing Cassidy portray this darker and immoral version of her character. Even her outfit matched with the comics, plus she even had the actual Canary Cry since this version is a metahuman rather than a crime-fighting vigilante. Cassidy managed to play such a strong character in comparison to her original role of Laurel Lance. She carried the same kind of appeal to her character like Cisco (Carlos Valdes) and Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) did when they were Reverb and Killer Frost.

Carlos and Danielle also were able to play their doppelgangers as well, even though they were acting like them to fool Black Siren. It was nice to see them in their alternate outfits from Earth-2 for a little while and manage to pull it off for a bit. Not only did these two play the roles perfectly, but they were able to play their original characters trying to act like their evil counterparts. It was a clever distinction, but an essential one at that. Even when Cisco was stuck in a corner where his life was in danger, he took a big step in unlocking his abilities after he managed to use one on Black Siren.

One of the biggest character developments in the episode was with Caitlin as she was reeling from PTSD after escaping from Zoom’s (Teddy Sears) captivity. Instead of suffering from the effects of her psychological torture, she ended up fighting it. It was a little worrisome to see her like that and whether this would prompt her into becoming more like Killer Frost, but she immediately reminded herself that she is much stronger than her evil doppelganger. Even having friends watching her back was the one distinction that this team has over their evil selves.

One of the weaker plot points in the episode was with Barry’s sudden increase in confidence in taking down Zoom. Barry’s storyline this week felt quick and deviant. We already know the last time that Barry underestimated Zoom’s abilities by growing too cocky. After coming back from his trip to the Speed Force dimension, it wasn’t convincing enough to see Barry have this positive attitude all of a sudden. He’s been through so much this season to know that he’s always going to be vulnerable. This wasn’t the best way for Barry to grow as a character by making him overconfident and having others tell him that it’s ok to have fear didn’t do him any favors.

Barry’s overconfidence also led to him losing Henry (John Wesley Shipp) in the end, which wasn’t the best approach to do it. All that did was tease us that Henry’s death was coming regardless. Once we saw Barry and Henry share an important father/son moment, it was obvious that Henry was about to meet his maker towards the end of the hour. The build-up to it wasn’t necessary, as having his death play out in a surprise move would’ve given an emotional impact on Barry rather than just pointing that out to the viewers.

John Wesley Shipp had a strong arc this season as his character got to bond with Barry after never getting a chance to. Henry had some powerful moments in what may possibly be his final appearance. The scenes between Henry and Barry carried a strong impact in the episode, even though it wasn’t handled well. It was also cool to see Henry getting to bond with Dr. McGee (Amanda Pays) that was a real treat to fans of the 90s Flash series. The reunion was cut short after that tragic death but it carried an emotional impact for our characters.

It seems that the writers are setting up Wally West (Keiynon Loinsdale) on what may possibly be his journey into becoming a hero himself. He tried playing one this week, which didn’t add anything to the much bigger plot. However, it’s great that the writers aren’t rushing things by quickly making Wally or Jesse (Violett Beane) into speedsters. Rather, it seems like Wally may be on a path to become a cop like Joe West (Jesse L. Martin). Hopefully we get to see him developed a little more when season three comes around the corner.

Overall, ‘Invincible’ didn’t leave quite the same impact as last week’s big episode. The big battle scene was a great start, but it ended quickly and left the rest of the episode in shackles by giving us a typical metahuman-of-the-week episode. Even Barry’s strange attitude didn’t help keep the episode interesting. The episode did have some powerful moments that will leave a mark as we enter next week’s finale.

Leave your thoughts on this review and this episode of The Flash in the comments section below. For more The Flash reviews, photos, videos, and information, visit our The Flash Page, The Flash Google+ Page, visit our The Flash Facebook Page, subscribe to us by Email, “follow” us on Twitter, Tumblr, Google+ or “like” us on Facebook.

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Mufsin Mahbub

**Fired from FilmBook for Plagiarism** Mufsin is a freelance writer from New York who has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism at Long Island University. He has written for publications like HollywoodLife, Clubplanet, and Heavy. He is an avid lover for everything related to TV and film. He has gone to dozens of film screenings, press events, and loves to attend New York Comic Con every year. He gives an honest opinion on every TV show or film that people are going to be talking about.
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